A four-year-old minor girl was allegedly raped by her classmate inside the premises of a Delhi school. The minor boy reportedly inserted his finger and a sharpened pencil into the girl, inside the school washroom, injuring her private parts.
Speaking to The Quint, the school’s legal advisor Rajappa Srinivasan said that “there is no prima facie evidence to link the boy’s involvement and hence there cannot be any investigation since the law does not permit it.”
Reiterating that the school is cooperating with the investigating authorities, Srinivasan said,
The mother is reiterating what she heard from her daughter. We can’t belittle her emotions either. But if the incident happened on 17 November and the mother got to know about it only on the midnight of 19 November, it just shows the mother was careless. Also, in the CCTV the girl seemed happy. If she was in pain, she would have cried, etc, but that was not seen on cam even after 11 am, which is when classes end.
The Quint asked Srinivasan other urgent questions on the school’s role in the incident and here are the answers we received.
Why were there no teachers or staff present nearby, who could have prevented the incident?
There are always two ayas or adults present in the classroom. The boy and the girl washrooms are separate so there is no prima facie evidence to show that the boy went to the girl’s washroom. Also, around 30-35 children were seen around the washroom and classroom during that entire time.
Did the minor girl complain to the teacher when the incident happened?
The mother got a response from the school within 20 minutes of her sending an email or message.
Questions Which Remain
What is their response to the mother’s demands? Will the teacher and the principal be sacked?
Does the minor boy still attend school?
Why did the principal direct the mother towards the student counsellor instead of listening to her complaint herself?
Should the school be holding sex-ed classes, or basic information regarding ‘right touch’ and ‘wrong touch’ to their students?
Meanwhile, blaming the school for the incident, the mother of the girl has demanded that the minor boy be expelled for the alleged crime. She alleged that the school showed “no urgency” to act on the complaint filed against the minor boy, and demanded a public apology from the school.
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